Photo project “Kyiv during the Holodomor”

Every day, Kyiv residents and tourists walk past various buildings, often unaware of the history of the streets. In the 1928–1930s, Kyiv, like the rest of Soviet Ukraine, was at the epicentre of the “communist storming” and later the Holodomor organised by the Kremlin. The absolute destruction of everything that forms our identity began, first and foremost, with Ukrainian cultural heritage. The anti-religious campaign actively changed the cityscape. Along with hundreds of churches and other sacred buildings, the communists destroyed buildings in the Cossack Baroque and Ukrainian Art Nouveau styles, replacing them with new buildings. Time has erased the memory of the events witnessed by old Kyiv.

On the eve of the Day of Remembrance for the Holodomor Victims, our Museum implemented an informational photo project entitled “Kyiv during the Holodomor” at a public transport stop. It aims to remind us of the historical buildings, significant monuments, and places associated with the Kyiv residents’ lives during the Holodomor genocide, which were destroyed by the Bolsheviks, so that we continue to remember the crimes committed by the leaders of the Soviet Union.

The public transport stop with information banners is located in the Park of Eternal Glory near the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. The bus route runs along Lavrska Street, Ivan Mazepa Street, Bessarabska Square, Taras Shevchenko Boulevard, and the Railway Station.

Consequently, the information banners feature archival photos and brief information blocks about the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, which the Bolsheviks transformed into the All-Ukrainian Museum Town and a centre of anti-religious propaganda in the Ukrainian SSR in 1926; St. Nicholas Military Cathedral, destroyed by the communists between 1934 and 1936; The Red Banner Arsenal factory, which was one of Kyiv’s key enterprises; the building on Arkhitektora Horodetskoho Street, where the Torgsin store was in the 1930s; the Bessarabsky Market, which became a place for exchanging personal belongings for food; Halytska Square, where Yevbaz was situated, where the starving walked from the train station; The railway station, overflowing with hungry people. The background of the banners is a map of central Kyiv with marked locations related to the Holodomor.

Today, Russia continues to destroy our city with missiles and Shahed drones. Kyiv is in pain again, and so are we. May the memory of the past contribute to our resilience and make us stronger!